1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the design and manufacture of high performance sheaths for use in medicine and other applications. These sheaths may be placed over devices intended for the exploration and modification of luminal cavities. The devices may be medical devices used to explore and modify the body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices used to explore and modify luminal cavities may become contaminated by their surroundings. A medical device used in the body may become contaminated with material from the patient's body. The medical device may be disposed of after use in a single patient. Alternately, the medical device may be cleaned after each procedure.
Alternately, the medical device may be covered, or partially covered, with a sheath that protects, or partially protects, the medical device from contamination. This sheath may then be disposed of after each procedure. This sheath may be an integral or permanent part of the medical device. The medical device may need some or no cleaning.
Current sheaths are generally simple, homogenous polymer structures. Because they are made from a single material, they may represent a compromise between all the competing engineering requirements that sheath may have. In many applications, these compromises harm the efficacy, cost, or efficiency of the medical procedure in which the medical device is being used. What is needed is a sheath that can be constructed in such a way as to selectively incorporate whatever properties are required for the application.